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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25263889">Mission Im-Pawneable: Knope Protocol!</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilsebastian1987/pseuds/lilsebastian1987'>lilsebastian1987</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Parks and Recreation</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Pawnee, Slow Burn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 07:07:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,836</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25263889</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilsebastian1987/pseuds/lilsebastian1987</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>COVID 19 has hit Pawnee and Leslie Knope, ‘The Emergency Czar’, is dedicated to save the people of her town. But that’s when two state auditors show up in Pawnee to protect it from economic damage. </p><p>With the help of her team and friends, Leslie tackles the public health challenge of a lifetime all while trying to keep the parks open and avoiding her growing feelings for a certain cute-pain-in-the-ass. </p><p>Slight-AU that takes place sometime around season 3.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Leslie Knope/Ben Wyatt</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>27</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Shutdown</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Long time fanfiction reader, first time writer. I would really appreciate feedback, but please be kind as this is my first fic ever and I'm still working on my writing skills. I plan to update every few days to a week, and I think this fic will end up having 10 - 15 chapters when it's done. Thank you for reading! Benslie forever &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>March, 2020</p><p>It all happened so quickly. One day, Leslie was enjoying running public forums and doing paperwork from her first-floor city hall office, and the next, the governor of Indiana declared a state of emergency. COVID 19 was what they were calling this new virus, and it disproportionally affected those with pre-existing conditions. This frightened Leslie quite a bit, as Pawnee had the only documented case of mega-diabetes. </p><p>Leslie arrived at the Parks office that morning and was immediately met by Ron Swanson. </p><p>“The government is working from home effective immediately. We’ll probably get nothing done” Ron said as he laughed giddily. “Only employees essential to emergency management will be allowed to come into the office. Of course, Knope, you are the town emergency czar, so I’ve already put you down as essential. I, on the other hand, will be quarantining in the peace and quiet of my cabin. Good day.” And Ron marched out of the door. </p><p>This was Leslie’s biggest nightmare – no parks staff, no office meetings, and a looming pandemic. But there was a silver lining. </p><p>“ANN!! You beautiful starfish! You’re essential too?! Oh of course you are, everyone needs someone as amazing as you.” Leslie yelled with joy as she saw her best friend walking toward her with a “ESSENTIAL” sticker on her badge. </p><p>“Well, given that this is a public health crisis, I need to be here as the new public health director. But I’m also so thankful to see you here too. Also… April is here. Apparently Animal Control decided to take the month off to smoke some weed and asked her to be their emergency representative.” Ann said with much chagrin. </p><p>“I’m only here because Andy is working as a security guard for city hall during the emergency and I wanted to be with him. Also, I love viruses and death.” April said as she suddenly appeared around the corner. </p><p>“Well, hopefully with the Knope Protocol, very few if any people will die.” Leslie said in an attempt to stay positive. </p><p>The three women then quickly gathered Leslie’s emergency response carts and binders from the Parks Department storage unit and proceeded to the city hall chambers (the designated emergency meeting point). There, a representative from each of the government’s departments awaited further instructions. </p><p>Leslie had prepared for this moment countless times. Ever since Pawnee received a below failing grade from the Indiana state emergency response evaluation, she had worked tirelessly to make sure Pawnee was ready for anything that came its way. She quickly passed out the binders, instructed everyone to turn to the “Pandemic Response” section, and began briefing her team:</p><p>“Alright everyone, this is a tough one. Pandemics are hard to control, and this one has already spread quite a bit throughout southern Indiana. A man named Jerry Gergich is the first known case in Pawnee. He most likely contracted it on a recent trip to Muncie. Luckily, he and his family are all doing okay despite all testing positive. After returning from Muncie, Jerry stopped at many places throughout Pawnee including JJ’s Diner, the Food and Stuff, Paunch Burger on Elm Street, Paunch Burger on Main Street, Paunch Burger on Portage Road, the YMCA, Ramsett Park, and city hall. This means that COVID 19 is most likely deep within the Pawnee community already.” </p><p>She then began instructing each of the department heads on their immediate tasks. “Transportation, I need you to stop running non-essential routes and deep clean your buses every evening. All your drivers need to wear masks. Education, we are closing schools for the rest of the semester, please follow your e-Learning plan that I’ve added to page 46 of your binders. Sanitation, deep clean everything. And don’t pick up trash without wearing masks and gloves. Public health aka Ann Perkins aka health goddess, please begin putting out information to teach our citizens proper hand washing and social distancing.” </p><p>It was a whirlwind of a morning, but the Knope Protocol was going as planned and Leslie began to feel less anxious about the situation. That’s when they walked in.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Black Hats</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ben could tell that Pawnee was a disaster well before he arrived. </p><p>He had been unceremoniously woken up at 3am by his boss at the state auditors office the night before. </p><p>“Ben, I’m sorry to call you at this time, but COVID 19 is going to cause significant economic damage to cities and towns across Indiana. I’m sending Chris and you to a city named Pawnee and I need you there by tomorrow afternoon.” </p><p>He could tell that his boss meant business. Ben had only been woken up once before in the middle of the night for a new assignment, and that had been to mitigate the chaos surrounding Indiana’s unexpected swing toward President Barack Obama in the 2008 election. He slept little the rest of the night and spent the morning packing before driving to Pawnee with Chris. </p><p>From what Ben could tell from the data that he pulled on Pawnee; the city was a mess. They nearly ran over their budget every year and had been bailed out multiple times by the state government. As for disaster preparedness, well Pawnee had scored a “G” three years in a row. Ben was quite confused by the grading “G” was, but luckily one of the evaluators added the comment “Honestly shocked that anyone has lived past the age of 50 here.” He expected the worst. </p><p>“Pawnee: First in friendship, fourth in obesity,” Chris chimed as they drove past the Pawnee welcome sign. “Fourth in obesity… that’s really concerning given what we know about who the virus tends to affect.” Ben said with increasing concern for his new assignment. “Well maybe they mean obesity of love.” Chris responded, positive as always. But this turned out to be wishful thinking as Ben counted nearly 10 Paunch Burgers and 5 Slop Troughs on their three-mile drive into town. </p><p>Ben and Chris walked through the deserted city hall and found their way to the city council chambers where Paul, the city manager, had asked them to meet him. The first thing Ben noticed was that the chambers were surprisingly calm, and the department heads were already hard at work handling various aspects of the crisis. Then he heard a voice from behind him, “Keep up the good work everyone! We are officially ahead of schedule of the Mission Im-Pawneeable, Knope Protocol! We have already successfully implemented stay-at-home-orders and are working on getting extra equipment to Pawnee St. Joseph Medical Center.” </p><p>Ben turned around and saw that the voice came from a small, admittedly cute, blonde woman who was wearing a badge titled “Emergency Czar”. She walked over to him and Chris with another, older gentleman that Ben soon learned was Paul the city manager. </p><p>“Hello and who are you? Only essential personnel are allowed inside city hall,” the young woman implored. </p><p>“Hello! My name is Chris Traeger and this is my partner Ben Wyatt! We have been sent by the state government to help manage the emergency budget and mitigate any economic blow back from this pandemic. We are beyond excited to be in such a wonderful town. We literally could not have asked for a better crisis assignment!” Chris said to the two Pawneans as he beamed his patented Chris smile. </p><p>“Well welcome to Pawnee. Chris, would you be able to take a moment to go over some of the city’s important documents with me in the city manager’s office? Ben can stay here and work with Leslie and the rest of the emergency team.” Paul said as he gestured Chris into his office.   </p><p>Ben was then left with the young woman, who he assumed to be Leslie. “So, I’ve gone over Pawnee’s budgets and other information, and a lot is going to need to change if you want this government to stay afloat after this pandemic is over. Unemployment is skyrocketing in the country and many businesses are closing. Soon you’re going to be having funding issues. I’ll be helping Chris and Paul make the necessary budget and personnel cuts to keep this government running.” </p><p>Leslie had been stressed all morning and this news was beyond devasting. “Excuse me, personnel cuts? Oh no you can’t be serious? Laying government employees off during a pandemic is lower than low. They’ll lose their health insurance and with all the business closures, they wouldn’t be able to find new jobs!” She was almost yelling at Ben by the end. She hated Ben Wyatt and his callous treatment of her beloved citizens. </p><p>“Look, I understand this is difficult, but there’s no other choice. Every city around the country is going to be making cuts like this. But I will do my best to minimize job loss.” Ben said dryly. He was beginning to realize that Leslie thought she ran this town and might be a big pain in the ass during his assignment. </p><p>“NO! NO! How can you say such things with such little emotional backing? Do you not care about people at all?” Leslie was furious; she couldn’t understand how Ben was so impartial to the disaster. </p><p>“Get out.” Leslie finally managed to say. “Get out.” This time she looked Ben directly in the eye. </p><p>Ben realized that she meant business, and the entire experience had honestly been akin to standing too close to a massive bonfire. He took the opportunity to leave and found his desk in the city manager’s office.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Firing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Was going to revise this chapter a lot more, but I realized I'd rather push on with the plot. Perfection is the enemy of finished. Hope you all enjoy :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next day, Ben found his way to city hall easily and luckily avoid Leslie Knope on his way in. He had left his hotel early (7am) just to avoid running into her. Ahead of him was a long day of spreadsheets and meetings. </p><p>But as soon as Ben walked into his office, she was there. “How did she beat him to the office?” Ben wondered internally. She must’ve gotten up at the crack of dawn. </p><p>“Hi Ben, I think we got off on the wrong foot yesterday, and I wanted to apologize. You didn’t deserve to be yelled at like that.” </p><p>Ben was surprised by her apology but was glad that she also felt the yelling to have been unreasonable. </p><p>“Thank you, it’s not that I enjoy deciding who to fire but it has to be done. I’m glad you understand the situation.” Ben replied.  </p><p>“I said that I shouldn’t have yelled at you, not that I think it’s okay to fire employees during this time.” Leslie said, her facing beginning to grow darker by the second. </p><p>“Look Leslie, you’re just going to have to accept the reality of it.” </p><p>“No! I take back my apology; you are an asshole. And you may hold my fate in your hands like a tiny bird, but I will not take back what I said.” Leslie then quickly left the room, and Ben suspected there may have been tears in her eyes. </p><p>Ben never relished his work. He didn’t love firing people, but he knew that it was a necessity. As Ben stared down Pawnee’s budget sheets, he began picking out those from each department that would be terminated. As he got to the Parks and Recreation section, he noticed that Leslie Knope (yes, the very one who had screamed at him) was deputy director of the department. She made the second highest salary and her department was not essential to the government. Ben realized that he would have to terminate her and was somewhat relieved to know that she wouldn’t be around city hall much longer. Leslie Knope bothered him unlike anyone else, and he wasn’t sure why. </p><p>But beforehand, he needed to speak to her boss, Ron Swanson. Ben dropped a meeting on Ron’s Outlook calendar, which was surprisingly empty for a department head. He then logged on to Zoom and waited. Soon, a phone number joined – 888-888-8888. </p><p>“Hello this is Ron Swanson. Why are you meeting with me?” A voice responded from the redacted phone number. </p><p>“Um hello, my name is Ben Wyatt and I am a state auditor here to reduce spending within the Pawnee government. We need to save money to ride out the pandemic and prepare a rainy-day fund for the city.” </p><p>“I’ll do you one better. You should cut the budget to zero and return all the money you’ve saved to the taxpayers.” Ron responded. </p><p>“Well, I can’t do that. But I do need to speak with you about terminating one of your employees.”</p><p>“Yes. Is it Jerry?” Ron asked with a small giggle. </p><p>“No, actually I need to terminate Leslie Knope. Her salary is the second highest in the department and it would be enough to preserve the rest of the Park department operations.” </p><p>“Oh no, you are making a huge mistake. If you fire Leslie, then you might as well fire the entire department. She is the department.” Ron said angrily into the phone. </p><p>“I’m sorry, it’s just what I have to do. Every department is losing a Leslie Knope.” Ben said as he suddenly heard the phone click on Ron’s end. Ron had abruptly left the meeting. </p><p>Ben assumed that Ron must have not cared enough to stay in the meeting and proceeded with his work. Fifteen minutes later, his door banged open. A large, mustached man with a steel-cold demeanor stood framed in door. Ben was terrified beyond words. </p><p>“You cannot fire Leslie Knope. No other department is losing a Leslie Knope because no one has one to begin with. And what are you thinking, firing the emergency czar? Who’s going to get this town through the pandemic?” Ron yelled. </p><p>Ron made a good point. Ben was starting to realize that firing Leslie Knope might not be worth the hassle and potential threat on his life (Ron looked like he wouldn’t mind punching Ben in the face at this very moment). </p><p>“Okay, I will reconsider my decision.” Ben quietly responded, hoping that this would all blow over soon. </p><p>But as if on cue, Paul the city manager ran into the room breathlessly and said “You better not fire Leslie. Before her, Pawnee got a “G” on its disaster preparedness evaluation. Do you know why? Because the Indiana state government felt it would be insulting to all the other cities that got F’s on their evaluation if Pawnee also got an F. They gave us a below failing grade, hence the “G.” After Leslie took over, well you’ve seen, our response is A-grade. This isn’t even part of her job description, she just does it because she loves this town.” </p><p>“Right now, she is singlehandedly setting up a free COVID 19 testing site at Ramsett Park for all of the citizens in this town.” Ron added. </p><p>Ben was taken aback. He assured both Ron and Paul that he would not fire Leslie and then headed to Ramsett Park. Pawnee did not have the funding to set up city-wide free testing facilities yet.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Free Testing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A play off the Freddy Spaghetti episode :)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Leslie had read all the guidelines and news on the virus. She knew that testing was important and was determined to provide free testing to all Pawneans. Despite the monumental task, she knew that her team was up for it. </p><p>Ann was able to secure swabs and protective equipment for those administrating the tests. April and Donna volunteered to take samples, with the promise that they would each be getting extra time off once the government went back to work. Ron built a secure testing booth complete with plastic guards to keep April and Donna safe. Andy drew a hundred chalk dots on the sidewalks 6-ft apart to keep the citizens separated while in line. Tom convinced Martin Kernston to donate masks (the Kernston nipple factory had recently been converted to make masks) to give to citizens who did not have any. Ramsett Park was the perfect testing site, as the outdoors prevented any one from breathing contaminated air. Leslie was beyond proud of her team.</p><p>All of a sudden, Ron came running in “THEY’RE COMING! THEY’RE COMING!” He screamed as he slipped on the dewy, March-morning grass. </p><p>Behind him, Ben and Chris strode in as Ben said “Yea, we are shutting all of this down.” </p><p>“No! You can’t do that! The town needs this!” Leslie responded. “Everything was donated by local companies and groups. All the employees here are volunteering on their own time. And we’re following all of the CDC’s guidelines!” </p><p>Ben was taken aback by this new information and had to admit, it was impressive that she had organized all of this. He had never seen such work from a public official in any of the 30 some cities and towns he had worked in. And with everything donated, there was no reason to shut it all down. He also realized that he was foolish to have tried to fire Leslie. </p><p>“Well great work Leslie! You are a real superstar! Ben, I will leave you to double check everything. I’m going to jog back to the city hall where I’m needed for some emergency management training.” Chris said as he ran down the street. </p><p>“Um Knope, we have a problem.” Donna had just walked up. “Andy dropped a whole box of testing swabs, but there’s still a line of people we need to test and we’re running low. I called the swab providers, and they said they just donated their last box to Eagleton.” There was indeed still a line of Pawneans waiting – some seniors, some singles, but mostly scared families huddled together. </p><p>“Crap on a crayfish! Those swabs were hard to come by. Eagleton doesn’t even need them. All of them are probably quarantined safely in their compounds or have jetted off to a remote bunker somewhere.” Leslie was visibly distraught by the situation.  </p><p>Without much thought, Ben found himself walking to his gray Saturn, and punching in Wamapoke County Swab Company in his GPS. Whether he was motivated by guilt for trying to fire Leslie, or just the weird feeling of responsibility for the people in line, it was too late to change his mind. </p><p>An hour later, Leslie was entertaining the people in line with some rather poor singing, hoping that she could stall long enough for her friends to find more testing supplies. She knew that many Pawneans worked in essential businesses like restaurants and construction and needed to be tested. But she was also realizing the futility of the situation. </p><p>That’s when a truck from the Wamapoke County Swab Company pulled up and the driver unloaded an entire pallet of testing supplies. </p><p>Leslie was shocked. “How… What?! Where?! !! What?!” She implored at the young delivery driver. </p><p>“Look I was just told to drop this off in Eagleton. But my manager called and told me this nerd”, looking dubiously at Ben, “had paid double Eagleton’s offer to have it brought here instead.” And the guy got back in his truck and left, not wanting to be around a large group of people for too long. </p><p>“You did this?” Leslie asked Ben, maybe she had judged him too harshly. </p><p>“Well, I couldn’t possibly let these poor people continue to listen to your singing.” Ben cringed internally, wishing he could’ve come up with a kinder response. </p><p>“Thank you, it means a lot that you would do this for Pawnee. And I’m sorry about yelling at you… twice. I just don’t understand why you have to be so harsh about your job.” </p><p>“Look, you want to go for a socially distanced walk around this park?” Ben asked Leslie, not wanting to disclose too much personal information in front of her team members, who all seemed to be glaring at him. </p><p>Ignoring the small voice that said, “He’s going to murder you in the woods,” Leslie agreed and led Ben down one of Ramsett Park’s best nature loops. </p><p>A few minutes down the trail, Ben finally spoke up. “When I was 18 years old, I ran for mayor of my hometown and won. But I blew all the town’s budget on a winter sports complex called Ice Town and got impeached. Now I fix budgets for a living, hoping one day I’ll recover my reputation enough to run for office again.” </p><p>Leslie finally understand why Ben was serious and stubborn about his job. It wasn’t because he didn’t care about the town, it was that he believed that economic stability was the key to successful government. </p><p>“Well, from what I can tell, you mismanaged the hell out of the situation. But at least you tried. At least you did something.” Leslie said with what she hoped was the most reassuring smile possible. </p><p>Ben smiled back. Leslie should hate him, but instead she was smiling at him with the nicest smile. And for the first time in a while, Ben felt something stir deep inside him.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Online Meetings</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They were now two weeks into the state-wide stay-at-home order, and Leslie was finally getting used to meeting with her team online. She opened her laptop and launched Zoom for her regular “9AM Good Morning Wakeup Leslie Knope Awesome Sunrise Party Blast Parks Department Meeting.” </p><p>April and Andy’s video popped up first, and April was feeding Andy peanut butter straight from the jar. “Good morning Leslie! April mixed Lucky Charms with peanut butter and I’m calling it super nut charm,” Andy screamed into his computer. </p><p>Ron’s redacted phone number then popped up, and he immediately muted the microphone. Jerry joined the call next, “Hey guys! I’m all free from COVID finally! Gosh I’m so sorry that I brought I back to Pawnee, Leslie. It won’t happen again.” Then Tom popped in “Leslieeeee, why do we have to do a mandatory call at 9am? I don’t have enough time for my eye cream to set in!” </p><p>This was more or less how every morning started these days. Leslie desperately wished to see and hug her friends again, but she knew they were safer at home. Ann had returned to extra shifts at the hospitals to care for all the patients, and Leslie worried about her every day. Leslie had no idea how she would’ve gotten through the long days managing the crisis from city hall if it hadn’t been for Ben.</p><p>Almost all employees had been put on indefinite work-from-home. Paul, who had a pre-existing heart condition, decided to work from home as did Chris (with only 2% body fat, the virus would literally shut down his system). Therefore, Leslie and Ben were left as the few essential workers who could enter city hall.</p><p>After their walk in Ramsett Park, Leslie and Ben had grown to respect each other’s duties and began to work together quite often to tackle the pandemic. Except for a weekly grocery trip, the only person that Leslie saw was Ben. And Ben, who was currently living in the Pawnee Super Suites, only ever had contact with Leslie. There was an unspoken understanding between the two of them that they were each other’s main source of human interaction. </p><p>They often worked late into the nights partly because of the emergency but partly because it was better than being alone at home. In their first week of collaborating, Leslie came up with a plan to temporarily cut all government salaries by 25% and reduce most non-essential operations to save jobs. Ben then crunched the numbers and realized that her plan could work; she had done it. Leslie Knope had somehow done the impossible – saved all of city hall’s employees from termination. </p><p>Ben slowly began to wonder how he could have ever doubted Leslie Knope. She worked so hard and cared so much, and he wanted to support all her ideas. When Leslie decided that all Pawnee students should have internet access for schoolwork, Ben led the way in calling Gryzzl to ask for city-wide free wifi. On the night that Leslie had to dig through Pawnee’s stockpile of PPE, Ben stayed for hours helping her fight the raccoon herds that had sheltered in the city hall basement storage. </p><p>Over the first two weeks of the emergency shelter-in-place, Ben learned that Leslie essentially ran on coffee and whipped cream, which he felt was unhealthy, but it was quite cute. He also learned that her shampoo smelled like vanilla, and that he loved vanilla. Since JJ’s Diner was closed, Ben brought Leslie a waffle maker for the office one day and he had never seen someone smile so much. He realized he would probably do anything for her to smile at him like that forever. Ben was screwed. </p><p>On hard days, Ben ached to reach out and wrap her up in a hug. He wanted nothing more than be her shoulder to cry on when the numbers came back that the virus had taken the lives of more Pawneans. But Leslie never let them come within 6 feet of each other, per social distancing rules. She felt that it would be too risky, and they resorted to working at opposite ends of various conference tables. </p><p>Leslie mostly wanted to minimize virus transmission, but she secretly knew that the 6 feet barrier played a bigger role than that. She had begun to develop feelings for the cute, brown-eyed, devoted civil servant that kept her company and supported her during the crisis. Ben had become her greatest ally in the fight against COVID 19 as well as one of her closest friends. But Leslie also knew that they could never be together – he was only in Pawnee temporarily, he was technically her boss, and he probably had a beautiful, tall, brunette girlfriend back in Indianapolis. The last part was probably not true, but Leslie also couldn’t grasp how Ben didn’t have girls all over him. He was so handsome and witty and had the nicest eyes. That’s why Leslie put up the 6 feet barrier. She had to make sure she didn’t get too close.  </p><p>Her computer chimed. *Public Works Update Meeting in 1 Minute.” Leslie opened the meeting link, and briefly caught Ben’s eye. He gave her a supportive smile, and the went back to their daily grind.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. STAY AT HOME</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>April, 2020</p><p>Pawneans weren’t staying home. In fact, they may have been going out more. The Pawnee Police Force did try to enforce stay-at-home orders, but they were met with protests and defiance. </p><p>That morning, Leslie pulled into city hall and immediately realized the magnitude of the problem. In front of building, nearly a hundred Pawneans were gathered with signs that read, “Give me Paunch Burgers or Give me Death”, “I’d rather die THEN be oppressed,” and “Quarantine is a young man’s game.” None of the protestors were socially distanced or wearing masks and they were clearly enraged. At the front of the group, Kathryn Pinewood (of the Pawnee Restaurant Association) was distributing free 512 oz sodas to the protestors to keep them fueled. </p><p>Andy, who was one of city hall’s emergency security guards, came rushing out the door pelting marshmallows that the protestors. “BERT MACKLIN, FBI! You all better back down or I will take you into federal custody!” It wasn’t perfect, but it got the protesters to back down enough for Leslie to run into city hall. She saw Andy charge at the mob soon just before the door closed.  </p><p>“What the hell?!” Leslie said to Chief Trumple, who was waiting for her inside. “Those people are dangerously close to invading city hall!” </p><p>“We’re doing our best Knope, but our officers are spread thin. Half of them are out sick and the other half are trying to dissolve other stay at home protests throughout the city.” Trumple responded, looking fatigued. </p><p>“If it’s any comfort, I don’t think any of the people outside posed a threat beyond spreading the virus to each other. I’m sure our police force is doing their best.” Ben assured Leslie while looking oddly at Trumple for approval. </p><p>Andy then ran back into the building and shouted, “They’ve given up for now out of fear of federal prison. Macklin, you slick bastard, you’ve done it again.” This made Leslie feel slightly better and she excused herself to a conference room for her daily morning meeting with the Parks department. Ben was left with the police chief, which made Ben quite uncomfortable. But he knew he had to do his job. </p><p>“Um… uh... look, Chief Trumple, Leslie and I need to ask a favor from the Pawnee police force. If we’re going to keep citizens home, then we need the police to enforce the mandate. I know this is a big ask given the defiant tendencies of our citizens, but it needs to be done.” Ben said as he noted to himself that he was now referring to Pawneans as “our citizens” instead of “the citizens.” </p><p>“Just let me know how many officers and where you need them.” Trumple responded to Ben’s surprise. </p><p>“Just like that?” </p><p>“Leslie Knope gets as many favors as she needs.” The chiefly responded relatively casually. </p><p>“Could I ask why?” Ben was curious since generally a city’s government and the police force often clashed rather than operated together harmoniously. </p><p>“Because Leslie Knope is a person that uses favors to help other people. And before they started dating, my buddy Dave was the grumpiest man on the force.” Trumple explained to Ben. </p><p>“Oh, uhh… um, are they still together?” Ben’s curiosity far outweighed his fear of the police at this point.</p><p>“No, broke up a year ago when he moved to San Diego.” </p><p>“Was it serious?” Ben knew as soon as he asked that the question was completely out of line with the professional conversation, but he was also dying to know. </p><p>“Why do you want to know? You a pervert?”</p><p>“No, sorry, I’m going to go.” And Ben ran into an office that wasn’t his; his heart pounding in his chest. Leslie had dated a police officer – terrifying. Her and the police officer had broken up – wonderful. But did this mean that Leslie liked the macho, law-enforcement, no-nonsense types? He pictured Leslie and some large, muscular man. Ben had been working out regularly thanks to Chris’s need for a gym buddy, but he still felt shrimpy next to this ambiguous giant-police-officer-ex-boyfriend that he imagined for Leslie. </p><p>He also realized that his feelings for Leslie were getting out of hand and that he had crossed a line by asking the police chief for personal information about her life. Ben made a mental note to himself to get a grip and promised himself to keep things purely professional going forward.</p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Caretaker</h2></a>
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    <p>Ben’s promise to himself quickly went out the window. That afternoon when he joined Leslie for their daily taskforce update, she seemed visibly off. She looked pale and was having trouble paying attention to their conversation. </p><p>“Hello, earth to Leslie? We need to find a way to keep Pawneans home and happy to avoid more protests.” Ben asked after she had once again zoned out of the discussion. </p><p>Leslie snapped back to reality, but only briefly. She had started feeling ill a few hours ago and was now fighting off a feeling of chills and a headache while speaking with Ben. She had already blasted the heat in the room and was wearing multiple layers, but she was still freezing. She responded something along the lines of “extra TV” and then resumed her relative stupor. </p><p>She was getting sick, and before he knew it, all professional rules were out the window. He was then driving her to the hospital to get tested for COVID 19 and praying that she wouldn’t get much sicker. </p><p>At St. Joseph Medical Center, Ann Perkins met them with two testing kits. “Look Ben, you’ve been around Leslie every day and we are going to have to test you as well for safety reasons. If you come up positive, then you also have to stay at home. And could you please have Andy and April come in to get tested as well?” Ann said calmly despite the rather chaotic scene at the hospital. </p><p>Soon, Ben and Leslie had both been tested, while Andy wreaked minor havoc by sticking multiple swabs up his nose and deeming himself the “Nose Octopus!” </p><p>“Okay, you’ll get your results tomorrow, and in the meantime, please go home and rest. Leslie, your symptoms are flu-like and you’ll most likely have a mild case of COVID. Fluids and Tylenol are going to be your best friend.” Ann told her two friends. </p><p>‘I’ll take care of Leslie while she’s sick.” Ben said impulsively. He didn’t know where this statement came from, but as soon as he said it, he was sure that this was the right choice. “I’m most likely also infected already, so it makes sense for me to quarantine with her.” Welp, there went his promise to keep things 100% professional. </p><p>In her feverish haze, Leslie barely registered that Ben would be her caretaker for the next two weeks, and mumbled something along the lines of “wow I can’t believe Scott Bakula is going to be taking care of me.” She then turned to Ann, the greatest doctor in the world, and asked how she was holding up. </p><p>“Awe Les, I’m alright, but I really hope things don’t get much worse.” Ann told her. “Also, I ran into the really hot state auditor at Walgreens and he asked me out on a date. But I turned him down because there’s no way I have time for that in my life right now.”</p><p>“Oh my gosh! The hot state auditor? Ben, you asked Ann out on a date?! That’s so exciting!” Leslie said in a clearly faked, overly chill tone. She would’ve tried harder to mask her shock, but she was running a 104.1 degree fever and the ceiling and the wall had just switched.</p><p>“No no, Leslie, I meant Chris Traeger! The super positive one. He’s like the perfect, male specimen though. It’d probably be way too stressful to go out with him.” Ann clarified. </p><p>Ben was almost 100% certain that Leslie had just admitted she thought he was the hot state auditor. But he was a bit hurt that she thought he could have feelings for anyone else after all the time they spent together. He was happy for Chris though, the man really did seem to make friends and draw eyes everywhere he went. </p><p>“Well Ann, if it’s any help, Chris isn’t always perfect. I did hear him fart once. Plus, I think Leslie prefers Chris’s auditing to mine by a huge margin.” Ben said in a joking manner and looked over to see what Leslie’s response would be. But Leslie had already fallen asleep in the waiting room chair. “I guess that’s my cue to get her home. Thanks for taking such good care of us, Ann. You’re a really good friend.” </p><p>“I’d do anything for Leslie. And that also means, if you hurt her, I will never forgive you.” Ann’s demeaner conveyed that she meant business. </p><p>“Understood, I promise I won’t hurt her.” Leslie was way more likely to break his heart anyway.</p>
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